Jos Rufino Solera Urea1, Salvador Olmos1
1Aragon Institute of Engineering
Research, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain
In
dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC) MRI experiments, the increase in the
tissue transverse relaxation rate due to the passage of a bolus of
intravascular paramagnetic contrast agent is routinely calculated (up to a
constant) as the logarithm of the tracer dependent MR intensity normalised to
baseline intensity, assuming that T1 effects are negligible. This assumption
is revisited by developing the enhancement condition for a typical GE pulse
sequence and the associated enhancement angle. The systematic error
associated with the usual formula is analysed. Error expressions for the
blood volume and flow calculations in DSCMRI experiments are also presented and
their implications discussed.